Adam's Apples

Buds swell on a branch of an apple tree at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts, earlier today.  ¶  The promise of another harvest begins.

GOING FOR THE GOLD Hint: These are not Granny Smith.  ¶  They are Golden Delicious .

The Blue Pearmain runs to deep red. The apple gets its name from a dusty blue bloom it often wears. (Photo:  Blue Pearmain )  Many apples bloom, not just the Blue Pearmain.

Every winter, around the ancient festival of Imbolc , I rate the apples I tried for the first time in the previous year.  ¶  In 2024, I had the pleasure of eating 16 that I'd never tasted before.

Arkansas Black and Blushing Golden flank each other in the January snow.  ¶  In January, with the harvest long ended, I typically turn to groceries and supermarkets for apples to eat.

Walk into any mainstream supermarket in the United States and you won't find this:  (Photo:  A stack of Golden Russet apples for sale at a supermarket in Montreal late last year. )  But russet apples are delicious, and mainstream-popular in other countries.

Twenty twenty-four was not a typical harvest (and, is there even such a thing?).  ¶  But it wasn't a bad harvest either, and in any case illustrates the rhythms, the rise and fall, of agriculture (as expressed at my local markets).  ¶  All of the apples for sale, by date, from July to the end of the outdoor markets in November of last year. It's from this spreadsheet . Last year, the apples started in mid-July with Vista Bella , peaking in fat October with 25 apple varieties on a single day, and dwindling to the final 11 the day before Thanksgiving.

The fall equinox is counted as the start of autumn. By that yardstick McIntosh , that icon of fall, is actually a summer apple.  ¶  And lots of other autumn-ish apples too.  ¶  My discomfort with that idea brought me around to thoughts of a special pomological fall . (Some of you pointed out it is not very different from meteorological fall .)  ¶  Now this blog reflects that.

Apple trees slumber in the late December sunshine yesterday at Hutchins Farm in Concord, Massachusetts.

Centuries later, the name of Loammi Baldwin still echoes in pomological circles.  ¶  He did not discover the apple that bears his name, but cultivated and popularized it. The Baldwin apple is a treat, crisp and rich, once the most popular variety in New England.  ¶  Baldwin's great grandfather on his mother's side was Joseph Richardson, a second-generation immigrant who lived in Woburn, Massachusetts, 1643–1718. But Richardson had another descendant of even greater renown in the history and mythology of apples.

Some apples yet cling to the bare branches in the low late November light.

Darkness falls in America early this month as we set our clocks back an hour for Daylight Savings Time.  (Photo:  Electric lighting illuminates the apples at the Davis Square farmers market in Somerville, Massachusetts, earlier today. )  Night was falling at 5 pm at farmers market in Davis Square (Somerville, Massachusetts) today. You could have bought 14 different kinds of apples there.

The sticker of the day graces a lovely Stayman Winesap .  ¶  See closing times at the polls for every American state and territory.

This extended version of Deane's story examines accounts of the apple's origins.  ¶  Don't miss the plot twist at the end.

October is apple fat, and the market is happy. But behind the scenes things are winding down.  ¶  Vendors at this week's farmers market were selling 25 different kinds of apples, and of course there are even more out there at the moment .  ¶  But on the farm, most of the fruit is off the trees. Many (though not all) of the markets will close for the year after next week.

Two dozen not enough for you?  ¶  How about three dozen?  (Photo:  Not nearly all of the apples for sale at Volante Farms in Needham, Massachusetts, yesterday. )  Volante Farms, in Needham (Massachusetts) is selling 36 different kinds of apples. Or was last night when I visited.

If I'm posting too much, just wait until the spring.

With seven varieties appearing for the first time this year, and only four retirements (and the return of Wickson), the score at farmers market this week rose to twenty-five different kinds of apples.  (Photo:  An embarrassment of riches at the farmers market in Belmont, Massachusetts, earlier today. )  The local markets are just the tip of the apple. As of this writing, Volante Farms, a Needham farm stand, is reporting 23 varieties , including 11 not at farmers market. Shelburne Farms, an orchard in Stow, reports a staggering 38 kinds of apples , some in the store, some on the trees for picking, some both. (Note that things sell out.)

Just a few of the apples you could have bought at the Belmont, Massachusetts, farmers market earlier today (click for a close-up).  ¶  You'd have found 21 different kinds of apples at farmers market this week. They include some classic great like Northern Spy, and one I've never tasted before.  ¶  Hello, October!

Three painterly Pomme Gris apples bask in today's mellow September sun.